Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-07-13


money to buy bser and whisky. Woe to the
foolish sentimentalist who yields to their
prayers and gives them money. The nickel
or dime acts upon them a. the bandillero
upon the bull. The moment IL has been
seized BY some itching palm, the begging b.
comes q tumult Of yells, oaths, threats and
obscenity. A strong arm, heavy cane or .
club are Immediately in order. There Is q
population Of 5000 in Mulberry Bend, Of
which 1000 are the habitues Of the dives.
In December, 1885; Police Captain McCul-
Tough, one Of the best Of the New York Off
cials. made repeated raids upon the Bend
and captured 1000 inmates, Of whom most
were sent to the institutions on Blackwell's
Island Yet their places were filled the next
day just - II nothing had ever happened.
Were these wrecks Of humanity capable of
organization, Mulberry Bend and its sister
purlieus Of the Fourth and Sixth wards could
at any hour OF the day or night send out
An army OF $1,000 lost souls-six times as
many as the famous transformations who
danced the dance Of death in the early days
| Of tho French Terror. How do they livei
Very we'll. from their standpoint. A loaf of
moldy bread costs two cents in the Bend,
and Is enough for four. A plate Of leavings
from the waste barrel Of some hotel
or restaurant costs three cents, and Is
enough for three. At times the Rev.
Mr.. Kimball and other well mean
ing but foolish ministers send baskets Of
sound, wholesome food; the basement res
taurants sell quart Of coffee and two rolls
for three cents. and meat, with vegetables
thrown in. for i've. Lodging, fuel, washing,
light and clothing cost nothingi Five cents
keeps ono Of them In ease; ten cents in lux
ury, and they can live comfortably on three.
All over and above these figures goes for to-
bacco, and especially for rum. The drinks
Of Mulberry Bend are few, simple and cheap.
Ordinary beer is luxury to u human yer
min. They prefer the draining of beer kegs
and ale barrels, sour beer and stale, spoiled
ale and fiat. Whiskey, gin and rum are
equally popular. These are not the sub
stances known under those names but are
merely raw spirits favored with strong es-
sences and fusel oil, and colored with burned
sugar. They cost 81. 10 a gallon, or twenty
hve cents bottle. They are retailed at two,
three and five cents q drink, according to the
size OF the glass. A tramp in average luck
collects fifty cents q day. This gives him
two meals, paper of chewing tobacco, a
pipe and smoke, and ten good drinks. What
more could tramp desire! II he gets drunk
before his money is all spent, his friends and
roommates relieve him Of all his surplus
and sometimes Of his hat, coat, vest and
shoes. ~.
The proprietor fares well. He leases a
basement for $50 month from some Murray
hill magnate. His coal and light cost 50 a
month more. He pays for no repairs or
taxes, and has no servants. He receives fifty
cents day for the use of each of the four
little rooms mentioned, or $50 month in all,
and clears about $500 a month upon the
Hnlnrc nA atoi1c to
living expenses seldom exceed IS a week.
Nearly every "boss" in Mulberry Bend has a
neat bank account, and few may be &C.
counted well to do. Some, it is whispered,
profit by the robberies, assaults, attempts at
murder and assassinations that occur in their
premises. But this, however, is a cruel slur
upon industrious and enterprising business
men. No. IS is merely one Of the many dens
that make up Mulberry Bend Its four apart
ments of two rooms each appear and reap
pear elsewhere. Behind it, as behind all the
rest, B second row of buildings,
rotten with are, neplect and filth. These
are likewise owned by the wealthy
classes and likewise leased at high prices.
"with no questions asked" Between the two
rows Of buildings are court yards and alleys.
which are filed with decaying garbage and
offal, crowded by day with women and
romping children and crowded by night with
sleeping humanity. As the visitor becomes
accustomed to the smoky light Of these rooms
and houses he is startled at their condition.
The floors have been here and there worn
through or have been attacked by dry rot
and wet rot until they are perforated like
sieve. The rain on the roof drops from floor
to Moor and forms pools in wet weather in
every room around the b. dies OF the sleepers
MildaW mold nd otv
are on every hand. The walls and ceilings
are cracked and full of apertures. Here a
yard Of plaster has fallen off, barring the latbs
and joists; there a long cavity allows the eve
to see every inch Of some adjoining room.
Vermin are every wherein legions upon the
benches, In myriads upon the denizens and in
millions upon the walls. And the atmosphere
OF these dives! The carbonic acid and oxide
from the redhot stoves, the smoke and smell
Of the lamps, the breaths and physical emana- |
tions OF the Inmates, the awful odor of the
stale beer and fiery liquors, the stencil of de-
cayinG animal and vegetable matter the reel,
Of mold and rot, the armies of bacterial life
1t is no exaggeration to say that you can see |
this vaporous horror. 1t is a blush gray
mist, corpse colored cloud through which |
the lamps glimmer and wink, surrounded by |
colored auD,oles and through which the faces |
and forms of tho wretches gloom and culver |
more like lost ghosts than physical realities.
.+*
Yet here these hordes live Even more.
They breed. are born and grow up Though
the frightful mortality sweeps them off by
hundreds, though the police drive and scatter
them into other quarters, and though cpl
denies at times break out and rage like II
aame, yet they increase faster than the gen
population.
What shall be done with themi
And the children born under such auspices.
whose moral and intellectual surroundings
IRE on par with their physical what will
they make when they grow up? Nearly every
one is criminal by fate; nearly every one
he actor in crime to be committed years
hence. With each child of the Bend is bori
! theft, n highway robbery and murder
What shall be done with thcm.
WILLIAM e. s. FALEs.
Artificial Tropics.